letinmfly

I can tell you that myself and the other two judges are going to have a hard time deciding on the winner so far. Great stories and pics thus far!! The deadline is tomorrow night at midnight so if there are any other entries please make sure you get them in before the deadline. Congrats to the successful hunters and their mentors!! Great job everyone!!

Congrats Addison!!

Congrats Kayden!! Don't forget to enter the youth contest!!

Well deserved congrats Haley!! Don't forget to enter her in the youth hunt contest.

Good luck to the young hunters and their mentors!! Have fun and be safe!!

Nice work wooly!! When you get a chance I need a turkey feather done by you!!

Big thanks to wooly for donating a Wildgame trail cam for the contest. The first pic is of some of the calls I am donating for the contest. I am also waiting for a boxcall donated by SS Calls.

Update on my uncle Sal. God bless him he turned 106 on April 14. He's been doing something right his entire life!!

The hat and knife were donated by The_Real_TCII and the $30 gift card was donated by grampy. Big thanks to both of you!!

.45-70 would be a good choice for the hunt you'll be doing. Slower moving bullet with excellent knock down power and especially at closer ranges.

Dang exhibitionist!!

So who's taking a kid out for the youth hunt?

Yes for NY only.

I would like to thank grampy and The_Real_TCIII for donating to the youth contest. Grampy will be donating a Bass Pro gift card and TC will be donating a knife. I also contacted my good friend Al Shoemaker of SS Custom Calls and he will be donating a box call again for this year's contest. I have some calls that will be adding as prizes. If anyone wants to donate please PM me.

PM answered grampy. Thanks

Ok so it is a solid stain. Instead of power washing it, which could cause more damage than good, go to Home Depot or your local paint store and buy a deck cleaner that you can apply and use with a bristle brush. Use it as directed and hose it off. Power washing opens the wood pores too much and also removes wood from the deck. When the pores are open they absorb water deeper into the boards and take longer to dry even though they may feel dry to the touch. Once the deck is cleaned allow at least two to three days, depending on weather, to dry before staining it. Only do one coat so it dries well and cures properly. In a year or two, depending on wear, you can top coat it again. The bare spots on the boards tell me that you let it go a little too long before refinishing it. You want to try and avoid that in the future. Your estimate of around $1200 is in the ball park for that job.

Biz what kind of stain is on the deck now? Is it Semi transparent or solid and which stain are you looking to put on it again? If the existing stain is a transparent or semi transparent and you want to use the same the deck needs to be stripped down to bare wood again. If not the new stain will puddle or lay on top of the existing finish and will not be able to penetrate, which means it will peel off in a short period of time. If you are going to use a solid stain on top of the existing finish then you don't need to strip the deck, however it wouldn't be a bad idea. Also make sure you don't do this job until the weather stabilizes and the overnight temps do not drop below 50-55 degrees otherwise moisture and dew will compromise the new paint and can cause bubbling and peeling. Any other questions or concerns please feel free to ask. I have 40 years of painting experience.

If any members wish to donate a prize or prizes for the contest please PM me. I am posting this thread a little early cause I am having shoulder surgery next week and typing with one hand is gonna be a little rough. Lol

Once again this year I will be running the youth spring turkey hunt contest, with the help of Paula and Wooly as judges. If any of the members take a youth out and they are successful please take the time to participate in the contest. Lets grow this contest and get the youngsters involved!! This thread will serve as the official rules and entry thread for the youth hunt. This year there will be three judges... Wooly, Paula and myself. We will judge the contestants based on the following rules... 1. The youth hunter or mentor must submit a picture of the youth or of the two of them with their harvest. 2. A brief story of the hunt, preferably written by the youth, must be submitted. 3. You must post both your picture and story on this thread only!!! PLEASE DO NOT START ANOTHER THREAD FOR THE CONTEST ENTRY!! 4. The deadline for submitting your entry is 12:00am ( midnight ) on April 27. So if you harvest a bird make sure to enter it on this thread before then!! The winner will be chosen based on a combination of best picture and story submitted. The size of the bird WILL NOT be taken into account, although we encourage that you post the birds stats. As far as the judges are concerned all birds harvested are a trophy!! There will be some great prizes given away this year and we wish everyone a safe and successful hunt!!! GOOD LUCK TO ALL!!! This contest is not run by HuntingNY.com

Nice job on those Wooly. They look great!!

Those jungle gyms make the best stands!! They always attract deer. Lol

Big congrats to you and the family. They share a birthday with a really good guy....me!! Lol

Happy Birthday TF!!! Have a great day!!

Happy Birthday Wooly!! Hope you have a great day!!

For me it's therapeutic and it affords me a brief period of time to escape from the realities of life. Not to mention some of the other things already mentioned.